It’s a TikTok video except it uses words
Welcome to my version of short-attention-span theater.
Columns
New graduates crossing important threshold
It’s graduation season, a time for crossing important thresholds and saying final goodbyes. I have advice to share, but you don’t have to follow it. I can’t recall anything the speakers at my high school graduation said. Still, I have a few thoughts to pass along if you’ll indulge me. Let’s start with a sweet …
Ear doesn’t help musical odyssey
My parents tried to give me music when I was a kid. They bought a secondhand guitar and drove me to lessons each week. But the lessons didn’t take. Maybe it was a lack of self-discipline. Or we could blame my guitar teachers, who kept moving out of town after teaching me a lesson or …
Sunsets come in all types
I haven’t written about my buddy Jay Bell from “Bradenton-Fun-in-the-Sun-Baby, Florida” lately. You’ve probably heard about high inflation at the grocery store when you had to trade your eldest child for a dozen eggs. The suits in charge have been increasing interest rates in order to cool inflation. That makes it more expensive to borrow …
Don’t worry about Romans in 2023
If your resolutions have already collapsed, that’s OK because the beginning of the year is a fiction. Sure, it’s a fiction we agree to accept. We’re ready for a new year when the calendar goes from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1. But are we? At what point will you start putting 2023 on your checks …
This year’s resolution requires real stretch
I got tired of making resolutions only to see them fall apart before the new year really got going, so I resolved to stop making resolutions. I’m sad to say that I broke that one, too. There’s something tempting about a blank slate. It offers the chance to make different choices and achieve real change. …
Not all Christmas gifts come with wrapping
Somewhere along my life’s journey, I took twists and turns that made hiring a cleaning service out of the question. If we want the house to shine, it’s on us. Our house seldom shines. But it’s Christmas, so it makes sense to straighten, polish, scrub and wipe down while making room for our “Let it …
TV delivers its yearly Christmastime bonanza
My wife and I are at that awkward age. We have one teenager left in the house and no one to watch Christmas cartoons with. Not that it stopped us. The two of us put on “A Charlie Brown Christmas” the other night and loved it all over again. The cartoon captures the simplicity and …
(Sigh) Camping might become a distant memory
I’m afraid my camping days could be behind me unless I’m willing to go alone. I used to have a camping buddy who would meet me at a state park more or less halfway between our houses. We’d pitch a tent, get a fire going, eat good food, and explore the nature of reality. (We …
Stop and smell the socks, roses
The other day, I noticed that a small but annoying ailment had cleared up. I won’t get too personal, but the problem had vexed me in tiny ways for nearly a year. I went to doctors and tried multiple medications and over-the-counter remedies. Nothing worked until something did. I wish I knew exactly when my …